Cocktail Minute: Get one last taste of summer at Salt & Pepper

Andrew Linn has been working at Salt & Pepper Savory Grill and Pub since it opened seven years ago.

The Holland native moved back to the area with his wife for what was suppose to be a short-term stay. The couple had moved out to Vail, Colo., five years prior and came back to Holland to be with family for the summer of 2010 before packing up and moving somewhere to the Carolinas. Linn, 34, took a job with Salt & Pepper for the summer and, on the first day of orientation, he found out he and his wife were expecting their first child.

Seven years later, the Linn's have a little boy, and Andrew Linn is the bar manager — or "Liberator of Libations" as it says on his business card — at Salt & Pepper, 1539 E. Lakewood Blvd.

"We were going to move out east," he said. "I kind of owed the wife that since she moved to Colorado for me."

Linn spent five years in Vail, where he cut his teeth as a bartender and picked up a wealth of advanced knowledge about spirits. He brought that experience with him back to Holland and, as the bar manager at Salt & Pepper, he is heavily involved in what drinks appear on the cocktail menu, what beers are on tap and what wines are stocked.

"Beer is my favorite. I love picking the beers for the bar," Linn said. "I love the old classic cocktails like an old fashioned, mint juleps, mules are a good seller, and we sell a lot of Manhattans."

One drink that will make its debut on the Salt & Pepper menu Monday, Oct. 2, is the "Tequila Mockingbird." It's a concoction Linn came up with that starts with freshly squeezed lime juice, an ounce of agave nectar, 1.5 ounces of Patron Silver tequila and 3 ounces of white moscato wine. All of that is shaken with ice, strained over fresh ice and garnished with a lime wedge.

It has a very smooth flavor that cuts the bite of the tequila way down and has a sweet aftertaste. The drink is not overtly sweet, however, and is the perfect blend for a tequila cocktail.

"It would be a great summer drink," Linn said. "But I would like to keep it on the menu in the future if people like it."